Relm's Shadow
by DragonShadow
Summary: Relm comes face to face with the truth of her heritage


Final Fantasy 3: Relm's Shadow  
  
  
  
"Where do you think your going?" Strago looked over his shoulder to see his granddaughter running up to him. He thought he'd been able to get out without her knowledge too, but apparently she had eyes in the back of her head. That was the only possible explanation.  
  
"To search for stuff." He replied. Lately she'd been trying to tell him what he could and could not do. Saying he's too old for this sort of thing.  
  
"No your not, your going to try to train, really grandfather, you should know when to quit."  
  
"I am not an old geezer yet Relm, I can still take care myself."  
  
She crossed her arms over her chest. She had grown a lot in the past four years; he could barely bring himself to see her as the little girl he raised since diapers. She still wore the red suits like she used to, but lately they have been getting more and more revealing until he could hardly tell she was wearing clothes at all. Ah youth, what he wouldn't give to be young again.  
  
"Well if your going to go no matter what at least let me go with you."  
  
"I don't need a babysitter. I can handle myself well enough."  
  
"I'm going and that's final." She stood there staring at him with those eyes that have made many men weep. He didn't like that she was so careless about flaunting herself around every guy she met. She just didn't see that not every guy was willing or able to control themselves.  
  
"Relm, I don't need constant attention. I'm eighty not eight hundred. Beside I feel fine."  
  
"I don't care how you feel, your too old to go running off on your own like this. I'm sorry but that's the way it is." He was getting nowhere with this.  
  
"The day I'm too old to fight is the day I lay in my grave."  
  
"Which will be soon if you don't start acting your age."  
  
"You propose to lecture me on acting my age? Just look at you, you're almost nude for crying out loud."  
  
"I am not. I have plenty of cover."  
  
"Where is it? In your room?"  
  
"Don't start this again old man."  
  
"Don't call me old man. I'm eighty years young."  
  
"OOHHH, you are so stubborn." She stamped her foot on the ground like she always did when she was exasperated.   
  
"Just let me go and I wouldn't have to be stubborn."  
  
She shot him a look that would've scared the hell out of anyone else, but he'd seen it to often to be affected by it any more. "I will not be held responsible if you get hurt or worse out there."  
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, have you ever seen my magic fail?" She simply stood there glaring at him. He'd finally done it. He finally got her to let him go, because she had never seen his magic fail.  
  
"I'm still going with you." He slumped over, he was so close. He'd almost done it. He'd almost gotten away, but of course she still wouldn't have it.  
  
"We've been over this again and again. I do not need a babysitter."  
  
"I won't even do anything, I'll just sit back and watch."  
  
"And just what do you hope to accomplish by this?"  
  
"I... hope to... study how wild creatures react to magic now that there is no more." She grinned the biggest grin he'd ever seen on a living thing.  
  
"Study? I'm surprised you know what the word means."  
  
"Why are you always so mean to me?"  
  
"Because you treat me like a helpless grumpy old man whose only purpose is to rot for the rest of his days."  
  
"I do not."  
  
"Then let me do what I have to do."  
  
"But why do you have to do it?"  
  
"It's just something I have to do." She looked down at her feet, refusing to meet his gaze. He could see that she really was worried about him. He walked over to her and took her in his arms, she hugged him fiercely. "Now what's going on here? Why are you so upset all of a sudden?"  
  
She sniffed and raised her head. "I don't know, I just feel like if you go out there I won't see you again."   
  
"Don't worry, I have every intention of living long enough to see my great grand kids." She blushed slightly at this. That was not the sort of thing they usually talked about. "And don't tell me you won't have any, or I'll just have to live forever until you do."   
  
She grinned. "Stubborn old man." She leaned forward and hugged him one last time before finally stepping back. "Well you'd better get going if you're going to get back before dark."  
  
"I'll see you tonight." He gave here one last encouraging smile, then turned and walked towards the plains where he would hopefully find what he was looking for, some action.  
  
He fought beast after beast until it seemed there were no beasts left in the plains. He knew his power was beginning to weaken, he could feel it whenever he used it. Eventually it would disappear completely. For now though, he kept on training. Something big was going to happen sometime soon. Something earth shattering. Not that there was much earth left to shatter. He felt he had to be ready for whatever happened. Ready with his wits and his magic.   
  
As he wandered around the field, he let his mind wander to other things. He'd said he expected great grand kids from Relm, but he wasn't so sure he would live to see that day. For the past two weeks or so he'd been having heart problems. None of the doctors in the village have any clue what was causing it, though presumably it was just old age.   
  
He turned his head to the left just in time to see a huge claw coming straight at him. He leaped forward just in time to avoid getting decapitated, but the thing whirled and struck again, cutting deep into his right arm. The staff he carried flew from his fingers as he struggled to get to his feet before it could finish him off. He got up and tried to run, then collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest. Another heart attack, at the worst possible moment.  
  
He turned to see the thing had caught up to him and was getting ready for the final blow. When he saw a shadow leap over his head to attack the beast. All it took was a few lightning fast strikes before the thing fell to the ground dead.  
His savior turned towards him, and glared down at him like he was a lost child. "You should not be out here old man."  
  
"Don't propose to lecture me on anything Shadow. You have no sense of honor or emotion."  
  
"Emotion is for the weak who can't get the job done, like you."  
  
Strago stared up at him still holding his chest. "I am not a weak old fart just yet."  
  
The glint in Shadows eyes told him how much contempt he held for the older man. "You can't even stand up." Strago tried his best to get to his feet, but he failed miserably. He only succeeded in increasing Shadows contempt for him.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I've come to check on Relm."  
  
Strago cocked his head to the side. "You actually care what happens to her? You have no right to care about her!" He managed to get to his feet, the heart attack having passed.  
  
"Who are you to tell me what rights I have?"  
  
"I am the man who cared for her since she was in diapers while you were running around the countryside on a killing spree!"  
  
"I never killed without just cause."  
  
"You never killed without getting paid for it you mean."  
  
"Same thing." His voice was so emotionless Strago almost lost it right there. He didn't care who lived or died as long as he got his money.   
  
"You heartless bastard! How can you sit there and talk that way about peoples lives?"  
  
"I do what I must to survive."  
  
"No you don't, you do it because you enjoy it."  
  
"That's a side bonus."  
  
Strago swung his fist at him, missing by a mile. Shadow whirled around and punched him square in the heart, causing him to double over in pain. "You... son of a bitch!"   
  
"Anger will get you nowhere old man. But I'm running out of time. Where is Relm?"  
  
"Why do you care?"  
  
"Don't play with me old man, don't forget..." He grabbed the older man by the collar of his shirt, causing even more pain to him. "Relm is old enough to take care of herself now, you are no longer necessary. Now where is she?"   
  
He tried to pry Shadows fingers loose as they started to choke him. Finally he let go so Strago could answer him. "She's at the inn with some friends." He managed to gasp out.  
  
"Good boy." Shadow turned to walk away.  
  
"You can't just leave me out here!"  
  
"You said you aren't helpless, so prove it." He walked off in the direction of Thamasa, leaving Strago for dead in the field. He tried to walk after him, but quickly stumbled to the dirt as he had another heart attack. It quickly became clear that if the creatures didn't kill him before he got home, his heart would. He looked up to see several beasts converging on the carcass of the monster Shadow had slain, attracted by the smell. A few noticed him, a small weak thing that couldn't even stand up let alone fight.   
  
The creatures walked slowly towards him, taking their time and savoring their meal. He tried to get to his feet but his heart jumped again, causing him to double over in pain.   
  
"Relm... I'm sorry." Were his last words as the monsters pounced on him all at once, the only thing he could think as they tore into him was that there didn't seem to be any pain.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Relm looked out over the field, the stars shining brightly overhead. It was several hours past midnight and he still hadn't returned from his training. She was getting really worried about him. It wasn't like him to just not show up. Something had to be wrong. She should have gone with him; she could have made sure nothing happened to him.  
  
She just stood there a few more minutes, and then she went inside and packed some supplies. A basket of food, a lamp, and a dagger for defense. Then she walked off into the night searching for him. She walked around in the dark for what must have been hours until she ran into something.   
  
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't see you there." Actually she still didn't see him there.  
  
"Don't worry about it, what are you doing out here?" The voice sounded almost familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.  
  
"I'm looking for my grandfather. Have you seen him?"  
  
The man seemed to pause for a second before continuing. "I think I saw him due east of here."  
  
"Thanks a lot." She ran off in that direction, not noticing that the stranger followed her the whole way. Soon she stumbled over something cold and hard on the ground. At first she thought it was a rock, then she shined her lamp on it and found that it was human, or had been human anyway.  
  
She dropped that lamp as she recognized Strago lying on the ground. He looked like he'd been mauled from every direction at once. How could she have let him come out here alone? She knew this was going to happen, why didn't she force him to stay home? She knelt by him and lowered her head to her chest. How could she have let this happen?  
  
She looked up as the stranger she'd run into earlier stepped into the light from the lamp. She recognized Shadow this time.   
  
"What happened to him?" There were tears brimming in her eyes.  
  
"He wasn't strong enough to defend himself from their attack."  
  
"I should have never let him come out here on his own." She started crying over the body of her only remaining relative.  
  
"Do not blame yourself for the death of another."  
  
"It's my fault, I should have known this would happen. Now the only family I ever had is dead!" She began bawling.  
  
"That's not true." She looked up at him.  
  
"What do you mean?" she said around the sobs.  
  
He looked away for a moment, then turned back to her. "Nothing. I will escort you back to Thamasa if you wish." She agreed slowly and they started back. She noticed him staring at the ring on her left hand when he thought she wasn't watching. The ring that was all she had left of the mother she had never known. By the time they reached her house it was already almost dawn. She walked up to the door she had left open and walked in. To her surprise he followed her in.  
  
He looked around the room nervously. "Is something wrong?" She asked. He looked like he was about to choke on something.  
  
"What do you know about your father?" She stopped what she was doing and turned to stare at him. Why the sudden interest in her personal life?  
  
"Nothing, he left when I was very little."  
  
"Didn't Strago ever give you a reason?" She flinched when he said his name and went to sit down at the table. It was still too soon to talk about him.  
  
"No, he just picked up and left while she was pregnant with me. Then she died a month after I was born."  
  
"I never knew that." He looked down at his feet. What was going on? He seemed almost like he had emotions for once.  
  
"Did you know her?"  
  
He looked up at her with almost sad eyes. "Yeah... I knew her."  
  
"Why don't you take off the mask?"   
  
"I can't. This is what I am. This is what I always will be." He almost seemed to regret that as he got up from the table, but his eyes seemed to linger on the ring.  
  
She looked down at the ring, why did he have such a strong interest in it? Did he know something about her family?  
  
"I will be going now." He turned and went towards the door.  
  
"Wait!" She ran to catch up before he could disappear into the growing light. "What do you know about my family?"  
  
"Only that you're better off the way you are."   
  
"Better off? I've lived with my grandfather my whole life because my family abandoned me and I'm better off?"  
  
"Your mother did not abandon you! I did!" Relm stood in shock for a few moments before his words sunk in.  
  
"You?" He looked down at the ground, anywhere but at her.  
  
"Goodbye."  
  
He turned and started to walk off into the sunrise but she desperately removed the ring from her finger and flung it at him. "Catch!" He whirled around and caught it with reflexes faster than those of a cat. He opened his fist to stare at the small ring in his hand. She could tell from the look on his face he knew something about it. "What is it?"  
  
He looked up at her slowly, for the first time ever she saw tears brimming in his shrouded eyes. "It's your mothers wedding ring." He looked down at it, then slowly curled his fingers around it tightly. Obviously her mother had meant a lot to him.   
  
"How did you know my mother?"  
  
He looked up at her, then turned his head away in shame. "He was right. I have no right to do this." He turned and started to walk away from her.  
  
"Wait! Please tell me." He turned around to look her in the eyes. "I need to know the truth. About everything." He looked down at the ring in his hand. Then he raised his head and walked back towards her.  
  
"For your mothers sake, I will tell you what you want to know."  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Relm sat across the small dining table from Shadow, who seemed to be trying his best to avoid eye contact with her at all costs.  
  
"Well? What happened? How do you know my parents?" He leaned forward on the chair and finally looked up at her.  
  
"The best way to tell you that is to tell you my story in full."  
  
She sat stunned that he would be willing to tell her his life story. From what she knew of him he was a complete loner. Trusting nothing and nobody. "Alright." Was all she could bring herself to say.   
  
He leaned back and managed to calm himself down somewhat. "Well, I had best start at the part where I met your mother..."  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Clyde ran through the forest as fast as he possibly could, trying to avoid all pathways through the forest. It was hard to keep from tripping on all of the hedges and bushes but he finally managed to make it to the rendezvous point where he waited impatiently for his accomplice to show up. It was half an hour before he finally stumbled into the clearing gasping for breath. The eyepatch over his left eye seemed to make his face look like a zombie for a moment as he stepped out of the shadows.   
  
"We did it!" He leaned heavily against the trunk of a tree. "I can't believe we actually did it."   
  
"One million GP! We'll never have to work again." He said with a huge grin on his face. He held up the heavy bag filled to the brim with gold pieces.   
  
"Never again." Baram held up his own bag, which held even more gold.  
  
"The greatest train robbery in history."   
  
"Yeah, we'll be famous for years to come." He said as he set the very heavy bag on the floor. "But now that we're going to be famous we need new names for ourselves."   
  
"New names?"  
  
"Yeah... What kind of name is Clyde for one of the greatest thieves in history?"  
  
"Well what did you have in mind?"  
  
He stroked his chin in thought for a moment. Then raised his head to look at Clyde for another minute before he finally said. "How about Shadow?"   
  
"Shadow?" He stroked his own chin in thought. They both heard the dogs at once. "Enough time for that later, we should get out of here for now."   
  
"Meet you back at the hut." Baram said as he picked up the huge bag and ran into the forest while Clyde ran a separate direction. It had taken them quite a bit of time to plan this little adventure, but all the training had been well worth it. The heist had gone off without a hitch as planned. And it seemed no one could catch them now.  
  
As he neared the location of the hut they had built in the trees so they could escape from anyone who got too close to them he slowed down and looked up to see Baram already climbing the ladder. Clyde walked up to it and as Baram got off proceeded to climb, his tan cape blowing in the wind as he managed to get up the ladder and close the bottom hatch before the guards arrived. He grinned to his partner as they both heard the guards conversation below them.  
  
"Where did they go?" One of them said as one of the dogs barked.  
  
"Stop that, there's no way they could've climbed a tree that fast." A second voice, this one female, said right underneath the hatch.  
  
"Well they couldn't have just flown away could they?"  
  
"I don't know, in this forest it seems anything is possible."  
  
"You mean the myth of the phantom train? Come on, stupid superstition is all it is."   
  
"Don't discount the possibility offhand, that's how people end up falling pray to it." The dog continued to bark. "Will you shut that thing up?"  
  
"Ah you just don't know how to talk to animals like I do."  
  
"I talk to you don't I? In any case there's nothing here, we should move on."   
  
They waited for the footsteps to disappear before Baram immediately started talking like he was gonna pop. "A phantom train!"   
  
"Oh come on, you don't believe that old superstition do you?" Clyde remarked.  
  
"It would be the ultimate heist!" He said as he waved his hands in the air in front of him. "Think about it, we would be the only human beings ever to actually take something not of this world from the very body of a phantom." He was getting very excited now.  
  
"And what makes you think we could find it? Millions of people have tried."  
  
"We haven't though. I know we could find it!"  
  
"No."  
  
"At least hear me out..." He stopped as they both heard the voices of the soldiers return.  
  
"I know I heard voices over hear." Said the male voice.  
  
"Great now you're hearing things huh? That'll get you a promotion real fast."  
  
"I know I heard something, and see? The dogs agree with me." He said as three dogs began barking at once.  
  
"Fine go up the tree and check if you want to." Clyde and Baram both listened in silence for a minute. Then they both heard distinct climbing sounds coming up the tree.  
  
"Let's get out of here." Clyde whispered softly. He flung open the hatch and jumped down on top of the officer who had been climbing the tree. They both flew to the ground landing with dull thuds.  
  
Baram jumped down, and landed on the dogs who were still barking up a storm. Then they both darted into the forest, not really caring which way they were going. They could hear the dogs growling right behind them.  
  
When they left the forest they turned and ran for the small cave at the end of the trail, through which the found Baron falls.   
  
"Should we chance it?" Baram asked as they looked down into the white foam at the bottom.  
  
"Do we have a choice?" Clyde asked, they could both hear the barking right behind them.  
  
Baram shook his head, and then they both jumped off the waterfall, plummeting down until they hit the water. Clyde managed to get his head above the water fairly quickly, swimming to the shore he looked around at where he ended up. It was a flat plain with few places for any sort of cover. He looked around but didn't see Baram anywhere.  
  
He walked farther downstream until he spotted something lying on the ground next to the river. He ran over and examined Baram; he was still alive for now.  
  
Baram looked up at him with weak eyes and tried to sit up, failing miserably he settled for just turning his head towards Clyde. "Get out of here. If they catch you the punishment will be severe."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Do it!" Clyde slowly stood up and nodded his head, then turned to leave. "Wait!  
  
He turned around. "First you must use your dagger and..." The meaning in his eyes was clear.  
  
"I can't..."  
  
"You know what'll happen if I get caught, please!"  
  
Clyde slowly turned his back to his old friend. "I'm sorry." He ran off as fast as he could.  
  
"Clyde! How dare you..." He heard as he put distance between them. He ran as far and fast as he could, finally he reached the water on the other side of the field where he stopped for a moment to think. Should he risk trying to swim? The current very well could sweep him away like a leaf.   
  
After about ten minutes of this he decided to give it a try and jumped in. The current was faster then he thought, repeatedly slamming him into rocks, which lay all around him. By the time he reached the other side he was bruised battered and bleeding.  
  
He looked around to find himself standing in a field that surrounded a forest that was right next to a mountain. He walked forward slowly barely managing to stay on his feet. After about three hours he made his way around the mountains and spotted a small village not too far from where he was. It seemed like a small backwater village so he didn't think anyone would recognize him.  
  
He made it to the village and stumbled up to a small tree in the center of the small town, where he collapsed from his exhaustion and injuries. It was all gone. The money, his partner, and the hut. It was all gone now. Where would he go?  
  
He looked up to see a woman walking up to him, so he quickly got to his feet. "Hello, are you ok? My dog came and got me after you stumbled into town." He looked down to see what looked like a guard dog standing at the womans feet.  
  
"I'll be fine... Where am I?"  
  
"This is the small village of Thama... Hold on!" She said as he fainted and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The last thing he remembered was looking up at the dog licking his face, and then he blacked out.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
"The dog?" Relm asked as she gaped at him. "Interceptor?"  
  
"Uh huh." He said. "Interceptor was actually your mothers guard dog for a while before I showed up."  
  
"Then the woman you met was my mother? You were in Thamasa?"  
  
"Right."   
  
"So what happened next?"  
  
"Well she nursed me back to health, then we started talking more and more until..." He looked down at his feet again, unsure about something.  
  
"You and my mother? Were a couple?"   
  
"I'm afraid it goes deeper than that... At any rate after a few weeks me and Interceptor left again to seek our fortune... You were born nine months later..."  
  
She just sat there for a few minutes letting his words sink in. Nine months after he left? But that would mean...  
  
"Oh my god." She said finally realizing what he was saying. "You are my..." Shadow nodded. "But why did you become am assassin if you were just a train robber? Why did you leave my mother?"  
These and many more questions flooded through her head, spilling out in almost incoherent dribble.  
  
He looked down at his feet again. "Well as I remember it I wasn't able to plan the heists any more with Baram gone, so robbery wasn't an option. After a few years I came back to find that something had happened after I'd left. Your mother had been killed while someone was trying to rob your home."  
  
Relm looked down at her hands and noticed them shaking, her mother? Killed during a robbery? Killed for no reason other than she was at the wrong place at the wrong time?  
  
"Then what happened?" She asked shakily. She couldn't afford to back out now. This might be her only chance to learn the truth.   
  
"When I found out I left again, leaving you in Strago's care. This time though, I had a mission..."  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
It was midnight as Clyde silently moved up to the house. All the lights were off, which was good because he was now wearing a black suit which would not only provide camouflage in the night, but it would also hide his identity. Interceptor crept along beside him, being as silent as Clyde had trained him to be recently. He had finally been able to track the murderer down to South Figaro, where he had come to get his revenge.  
  
He moved to the window and jumped in, landing in a small living room, Interceptor not far behind. He moved silently through the living room, but he was surprised when he saw the light of a candle coming down the hallway. He moved into one of the farther corners of the room and watched as a man walked through the house with his wife. He could hear their conversation.  
  
"Now come on honey, we can't do this every night can we? We might wake up Edward again." Her eyes seemed to sparkle like pearls in the moonlight that came in through the window.   
  
He bent down and swept her off her feet, lifting her up onto the table. It wasn't hard for Clyde to guess what they were planning to do. He slowly crept up behind the man, sliding his sword out of its sheath as he walked. She saw him and gave a squeal the man apparently mistook for something else until she finally screamed "Look out!"  
  
The man whirled around and ducked, barely avoiding the blade as it whizzed past his neck. "Who are you?" He yelled as he tried desperately to get away.  
  
"I am the Shadow of death." He said as he lunged again. However, the man was far from helpless. He avoided the strike and lunged forward, trying to grab a hold of Clyde. He moved out of the way, but the man still grabbed his mask and pulled it off, revealing who he was.  
  
The man looked down at the mask on the floor, then up at him. "Why are you doing this? What did I do to you?"   
  
"You will find out in hell." Clyde plunged his blade into the mans chest, watching as the blood ran over the sword. He finally removed it from the mans body and turned to the woman standing directly behind him. She knew who he was.  
  
Just then a little boy walked into the room, rubbing his eyes. "Mommy?"  
  
"No, get away Edward." She said as the boy looked around the room, trying to figure out what was going on.  
  
There can be no witnesses, if there were he could go straight to jail, or worse. He walked slowly towards the mother, who grabbed the boy in her arms, and backed away crying almost hysterically. "Why are you doing this to us?" she asked as he raised the sword, getting ready to strike.  
  
"There can be no witnesses. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He swung the sword in an expert arc, severing her head from her shoulders in one swing. Just one more, then he could get out of here. He looked down at the boy who stared back at him with frightened eyes.  
  
He raised the sword above his head, then had second thoughts. What was he doing? He was going to kill a little boy? For what? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time?  
  
"Yes." He said as he walked forward towards the boy.   
  
"W...w...what's going on?" the boy asked as he saw the hand that looked more like that of a shadow then a man raise a sword to strike him down.  
  
"Be quiet kid, you're going to see mommy." He brought the blade down in an arc, cleanly slicing through the bays neck. The body fell to the floor with a lifeless thud. An entire family had been slain tonight. The blood on the sword that had belonged to all three seemed to turn black in the moonlight as it ran down the length of his sword towards his hands...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Relm stared blankly at him, there were no words to describe what she was feeling right now. Her father was an assassin who would kill with no reason at all. "How? How could you possibly do something like that?"   
  
Shadow stood up and went to look out the window. "It was hard at first, I had never killed before, then after a while it got easier and easier, until it got to the point where I felt nothing at all."  
  
She stared at him. Even for what she knew he did. Slaughtering an entire family while their child watched...   
  
"I did try to come back to you. But news of the triple murder reached even Thamasa, and Strago realized immediately that it was me who had done it. He forbade me to see you, and his magic was strong enough to keep me away from you, until today."   
  
She stared at him in shock as his words sank in. "You didn't... did you?"  
  
He turned from the window and stared at her. "No I did not kill him." She wasn't sure if he was lying or not. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.   
  
She looked up in realization. "That was why you ran away when you were sent by the empire to look for the espers."  
  
"I never run from anything."   
  
"You ran from everything!" She yelled before she collapsed to the floor, shaking with the strength of her sobs. She had lost her grandfather, and once again, to her, it felt like she lost her father as well.  
  
He walked around the table to where she lay on the floor. "I do not apologize or grieve for what I've done in my life. I've done what I had to do to survive."  
  
"Leave now." She said softly. He continued to stare down at her for a few minutes before finally turning around and leaving what she guessed was now her house. That night she cried herself to sleep on the floor.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
She woke up to find that something was licking her face. She bolted upright, then looked down to see Interceptor laying on the floor beside her. "What're you doing here?" The dog didn't answer as she slowly got to her feet and stretched. No matter what happened. She could never forgive him. In her mind her father had always been missing, she'd always dreamed that one day he would reveal himself to her and tell her everything was going to be alright. But now, her father was truly dead in her eyes.  
  
She felt something cold on her finger as she turned to go get changed for the new day, when she looked down she saw the ring which was all she had to remind her of her mother on her left hand. She looked up at Interceptor as she changed. She guessed the dog was hers now. Well, no matter what, she would have to tell everyone about her grandfather. But she just could not bring herself to tell them about Shadow. It was far too shameful...   
  
THE END  
  
  
FINAL FANTASY AND ALL RELATED CHARECTERS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SQUARESOFT 


End file.
